In dispensing liquid from containers wherein only a portion of the contents of the container is used at any one time, as is the case with many products such as liquid detergents and bleaches, the consumer is concerned with the messiness which occurs from drops of the liquid contents draining down the neck and side of the container upon completion of pouring. Thus, when a bottle having an upper neck is turned from its normal upright storage position to an inverted dispensing position and then back to its upright position, a few drops of such liquid will invariably drain down the outside of the neck and side of the container. A number of prior art container designs have disclosed various features for capturing such excess fluid and causing it to drain back into the container rather than drip down the neck and side. Among such prior art containers are ones disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,640,855; 4,671,421; and 4,550,862. Also pertinent are other types of dispensers cited as prior art in the above patents.
The container and package of the present invention represents an improvement over the prior art containers in that its design lends itself to ease of manufacture on a wide variety of machines readily available in the plastic molding industry. Additionally, such design permits economies of manufacture not available to those disclosed in the prior art. The container of the present invention includes a bottle with an integrally formed spout and finish having threads and a sleeve encircling the finish and cooperating therewith to form a channel. A closure having internal threads adapted to engage the finish forms the third and final portion of the package of the present invention.
In many prior art self-draining packages utilizing multiple members, an injection molded sleeve or collar is provided which is affixed in some manner to the bottle to provide the drain-back feature. In many of the prior art packages having self-draining features, which utilize a sleeve or collar, the sleeve or collar is provided with a thread or other closure retention means. In contrast, the collar utilized in the container and package of the present invention may have a smooth inner and outer surfaces and may thus be formed by a simple extrusion operation followed by cutting to the desired length. It is clearly more expensive to injection mold a sleeve or collar than it is to simply provide a sleeve which can be formed from a length of extruded plastic tubing.
According, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and novel self-draining container which is economical to manufacture.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a self-draining container and packaging which can be manufactured on a wide variety of plastic molding machines.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a liquid dispenser package which provides for dispensing liquid contents from a container without the inconvenience of excess product dripping down the side of the container following dispensing.
Other objects of the invention will become obvious from the following description.